Saturday, February 25, 2006

Scott at LegionWorld/Legion Clubhouse found concept art by two different artists, neither of which were used in the drawings we saw recently (the animated "Clone Wars" style by an artist as yet unnammed). Apparently a number of artists were asked to submit designs, and these make three we've seen - all different.

First up are designs by Ovi Nedelcu, who has concept art for Superboy, Saturn Girl, Lightning Lad, Timber Wolf, Brainiac 5, and XS on this page. Nedelcu was a designer on Static Shock and other shows.

Next are designs by Ben Caldwell (who was brought to our attention the other day). He has done numerous covers for the animated "Adventures" series. He posted concepts for Superboy/Clark Kent, Timber Wolf, Saturn Girl, and Brainiac 5. See the discussion and all of the artwork at this thread on his message board.

i also ended up doing tons of superman/superboy designs for the WB's legion series, although i doubt those will ever see the light of day...

and

i did both traditional and leather jacket superboy for the new LoS cartoon, don't know that i'm allowed to show them but i'll find out.

and

my designs are pretty conventional. they wanted something timm-ish, with a touch of ben c. although timberwolf was fun.

A forum poster referred him to Ovi's drawings, to which he replied:

ovi's designs are really great, i might actually want to see a cartoon with characters drawn like that! although i'm a little surprised he posted them, i guess clients are less fussy about that sort of thing than they used to be.

So, given three different artists' take on various Legionnaires, I think it's safe to say that we'll see at least Superboy, Saturn Girl, Timber Wolf, and Brainiac 5 (3x each), Lightning Lad (2x), and probably Bouncing Boy and XS (1x each), figuring that the artist wouldn't be asked to come up with sketches of characters we won't be seeing.

Upcoming Justice League of American writer Brad Meltzer joined the stage full of guests, and, pointing to the now familiar double-sized promo image of dozens of heroes, said, "This is not the team" when asked by DC’s VP – Sales Bob Wayne what he could say about the new Justice League title.

As Scott at LegionWorld noted back in December, if you look closely at the back row, right there next to Tempest is none other than the current version of Karate Kid! Probably nothing more than artistic license, but we'll see....

On the Legion Archives:

Asked if more Legion Archives Editions are coming, Bob Wayne said yes, and then Didio, asking Levitz what was coming up next in the Legion Archives, turned the mic to Levitz who said, "You just have to remember that I was really, really young..."

The most recent volume of the Archives, volume 12, reprinted up through Superboy 223, a dozen issues. I'd estimate that volume 13 would cover issues 224-230 (all regular-sized issues of Superboy), and probably issues 231-233 of Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes (all of which were double-sized). That would cover Pulsar Stargrave, intro of Dawnstar, death of Chemical King, Klordny, and end with the Composite Legionnaire issue. Volume 14 would cover the wedding of Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl and Earthwar.

As reported by CBR, at the Jim Lee panel at the inaugural New York Comic Con, moderator (and DC honcho) Dan Didio asked Jim what characters he hasn't drawn yet but would like to:

"The Legion of Superheroes. I loved them as a kid. The designs are kind of fun. As an artist, you can sit down and draw quick sketches, and each sketch visualizes the characters living, breathing, moving around through the gestures that you put in. You do that very quickly in 10, 15 minutes. I would definitely like to do that at some point."

Asked what characters he’s most looking to draw some day, Lee once again pointed towards the Legion of Super-Heroes, admitted that he has, on occasion, drawn designs for the characters and has sketched out stories just for himself, to get a better feel for the characters as actual people, rather than just stiff, cutout designs.

At this point, Didio asked DC Publisher Paul Levitz, who was sitting in the audience to come up and say a word or two about Lee’s upcoming work. Taking his cue from what Lee was just speaking about Levitz joked that this isn’t an announcement of any kind of Levitz/Lee Legion story, although if Lee ever was looking for a writer for something like that, he should let him know.

In brief, I was very disappointed. The issue promised us the multiverse, and we got a bunch of "And this one time? At Legion camp?" stories told around the campfire.

We know that the Legion didn't show up during the first JLA/JSA teamup*, the Secret Society of Super-Villains didn't crash into the Earthwar saga**, and the Legion didn't save Flash in Crisis 8***. They were stories of a "What If?" Legion, whose members don't resemble those from the stories we're currently reading about (Blok? Sensor Girl? Wildfire? What's a Quislet?), so how would the kids know about them at all, much less their personalities? It felt like a fill-in issue, and I expected more. While it was nice to see the return of Dawnstar, Wildfire, and the rest (even Tyroc), it was just a tease. Even the letters page seemed like a fill-in.

Geeky indexing notes:

* The JLA and JSA met the Crime Syndicate in JLA 29 (8/64). The same month, DC published Adventure Comics 323, the first appearance of Element Lad (who also appears in this segment). Aside from the minor coloring error on his costume (it was pink, not red), Chuck and Luornu weren't an item by this point in Legion history (Luornu had a thing for Superboy as late as the Mordru story in Adventure 369).

** Based on the SSOSV members Grodd, Angle Man, Star Sapphire, and Floronic Man, this apocryphal tale would have taken place around issues 10-11 of the SSOSV series (plus the DC Special Series issue) (11-12/77), concurrent with Karate Kid's battles with Major Disaster around issue 11 of his series, though he never met the Society. The picture of Saturn Girl, Tyroc, Wildfire, and Dawnstar is taken directly from the splash page of Superboy and the LSH 242 (8/78, by Levitz/Sherman/McLeod), right in the middle of Earthwar. In the original picture, though, Wildfire was with Mon-el and Ultra Boy instead of Saturn Girl and Tyroc (recall that Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad had gotten married and resigned right before the Earthwar, and Tyroc was pretty much MIA for another 2 years). Wildfire's speech is from that original issue too, but substitute "Diplomats" for "old people".

*** Of course, the Flash died in Crisis on Infinite Earths 8 (11/85). Several Legionnaires appeared in that issue in the 30th century, including Blok and White Witch. I don't have access to all my issues, so I don't know where Quislet and Sensor Girl were at the time.

As for the rest of the blogosphere, they'll be reporting in, and I'll be adding them as I find them. First up:

A fill-in issue featuring "imaginary flashbacks" takes the #1 spot. Why? Have you read all 12 volumes of The Legion of Super-Hero Archives? Well neither have I, but I'm up to Volume 9 and they totally kick ass. [snip] It's really good. And It's got my favorite cover of the week. And stuff happens! Even if it turns out to be imaginary. It's still stuff! Stuff is better than no stuff.

Discussion in the ComicBloc forums includes some commentary by the artist of the letters page story, Adam DeKraker (as "AdamDek"). One eagle-eyed fan (or should that be "ultra-visioned"?) noticed that the pose of Ultra Boy in the Who's Who story recalled a similar picture in a 1968 "Who's Who" type segment; DeKraker said that Mark Waid specifically asked for that homage in his script.

While I was excited beyond all belief, as I should have learned in over the past 20 years, DC did the bait and switch and got the money ... and left me with that empty feeling deep in my gut.

Nope! No multiverse. No real true content about the "Legion of Super-Heroes you thought you'd never see".

Just a fill-in issue with a few bones thrown in to lure an old Legion reader back.

Now don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the issue for what is was. But I don't like the fact that it has the typical comics' charm of misleading an old fan into buying something when in fact it isn't quite what it appears.

I'm always a little wary when it comes to a fill-in issue, but even beyond the fact that this one has Tyroc And His Thighs right there on the cover, this issue also features Karate Kid fighting Super-Gorilla Grodd, which means it's more awesome than 90% of the things in the known universe. Plus, that letter column's great.

Legion of Super-Heroes has what may be the most superfluous crossover ever in this fill-in issue that is tied, kinda, to Infinite Crisis. From the solicits, readers no doubt expected some sort of cross-timeline caper; instead, we get a series of "imaginary stories" told by non-core Legionnaires during the recent battle with Lemnos’s forces. A pervers part of me couldn’t help but cackle at the subverted expectations, but that alone wouldn’t be enough to win the issue without the final sequence, a powerful reminder of the series’ emotional core. Mark Waid can hang around as long as he wants, but if he ever gets bored, Stuart Moore is the perfect takeover man. Pat Oliffe’s art was a treat, since I haven’t seen much of him since Untold Tales of Spider-Man was cancelled. And there’s another Legion lettercol, this one a helpful primer on the team’s current membership from Triplicate Girl. This one begins *and* ends on two great visual gags; I heartily recommend checking Scans Daily to see if it pops up.

The first story ... is a series of "campfire tales" about the Legion popping up in key events of the present-day heroic age, with the point being it's not whether these stories happened, it's that they continue to inspire. The second ... is essentially an extended lettercolumn designed to introduce each Legionnaire to the uninitiated. It does a decent job for what it is, but it all seems to anticipate Supergirl's joining next issue.

This issue, though thoroughly confusing in a number of places and completely out of place with continuity, does successfully nail what it means to be a Legionnaire. Stuart Moore does in one issue what Mark Waid has been trying to do since the beginning of the run; he tells me what the purpose of the Legion is. For over a year Waid has been trying to tell us what the Legion stands for and it’s never made much sense, the Legion has always been at best an ill-defined mess of a political revolutionaries – seemingly more concerned with kicking asses and taking names than making any form of lasting social change. But after this issue, I know what they’re there for; they’re there quite simply just to shake things up.

The final issue of the Legion of Super-Heroes is fabulously complex. On the first read I didn’t get, nor on the second nor the tjird, but the more I read it the more the inspiration of the story started to dawn. Shy at first and then ferociously so the intent of the writer made itself known. This issue was the prefect way to say goodbye to the old status quo. ... Moore’s final nod to Waid’s masterful story so far has re-energised the series and has made it so that Supergirl can’t get here fast enough for me. I simply cannot wait the 30 days until she arrives.

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

OK, just because I'm anal retentive about this, I wanted to first see how they got that LSH v5 #15 would have been issue 568 as stated on the cover copy. Counting only those issues which made up regular ongoing series or bridging miniseries between series:

I get 572, not 568 (I dropped the Zero and One Million issues from my original count, and added Legion Worlds which I had misremebered as being concurrent with Legion Lost, not after it, thanks to astute reader Zeb Aslam). By this counting, issue 568 would have been the Dec. 2005 issue.

And just for the hell of it, issue 500 would have been LSH v4 #124, part 3 of the Legion of the Damned arc (Feb. 2003).

I didn't count the Zero and One Million issues in the numbering since they were company-wide and were the regular issues for the title that month. I also discounted the Tales of the LSH run of new issues (314-325) since they were concurrent with the first 12 issues of LSH v3.

As noted in the Comments here, Barry Kitson asked over at LegionWorld for help on identifying the issue number, but he was asking for the October-dated issue.

Finally, by this counting, issue 600 will be 28 issues from now, cover-dated August 2008, barring any numbering goofiness (like 0 or 1,000,000), twice-monthly status, or extra months (like "Winter" and "Holiday" of a few years ago). Keeping the same number of this series, that would make it issue 43.

Sunday, February 19, 2006

Based on the single image I posted the other day in part 10, traffic here has tripled, and much of which is coming from DC's message board, ToonZone and ActionFigureInsider. I just want to point out that the image came from the message boards at LegionWorld, the biggest Legion-centric forum out there and a great place to talk about the LSH.

So if you want to read what everyone is saying about the upcoming series, either in a forum or in comments, check out these links:

General consensus is not very favorable based on the one image posted so far. An interesting point, though, is that the artwork seems to be similar to the art from Star Wars: Clone Wars. I'll admit that Clone Wars is a much closer match than Teen Titans.

I love my Google Analytics page which tells me where my traffic is coming from. I'd never have known of most of these otherwise.

Update 2/22: Peter Fries, who posts at several of the above message boards, says that whoever the Legion page is by, assuming it's authentic, it's not Ben Caldwell, who apparently did some concept work for the series which was supposed to be "like I was trying to second guess what other people wanted to see in a post semi-Timm cartoon".

Friday, February 17, 2006

Today's news: Comics Continuum reports that Andy Milder has been cast as the voice of Lightning Lad. According to the IMDB, he has been a frequent guest star on a number of shows and has done a bunch of voice-overs on video games. His official web page for voiceover-related work is at www.milder.com.

See this page for a summary of the various Legion animated series, including a frequently-updated section on the upcoming series.

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Updated 3/2/06: I've found out that this is an early, preliminary model sheet and does not represent the final designs - so don't start judging yet! This page also has some more unused concept designs.

Courtesy of Hurrikane, a colorized (by DrakeB3005) sneak peek at one of the model sheets for Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes. "The designs were released in groups of Superboy with different Legionaires." This is not your Timm-verse Legion!

This is reposted here by permission of Hurrikane, please do not post it elsewhere without his permission.

The old:

Turns out Mordru appeared in the second season of Justice League Unlimited, in the episode "The Greatest Story Never Told".

Here are some screencaps courtesy of World's Finest Online. The storyline, as recapped by LegionWorld's Stratum:

Well, Mordru is more of a sub-plot...basically the whole League has to take on Mordru and leave Booster and Elongated Man on 'Crowd Control'.

The story is about how Booster saves everything because he just happened to be there. It's honestly one of my favorite episodes and a great rendition of the character.

The WFO page says that Elongated Man was instrumental in taking down Mordru.

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

GR: ... A lot of what's happening in the very first, and even into the second, arc is that Kara is looking for her home - she's looking for the place that will be her home. And eventually, she will find - or make for herself - a home.

CBR: Nice. Is the Supergirl in your book and the Supergirl in the new "Supergirl and the Legion of Superheroes" (written by Mark Waid) the same Supergirl?

GR: (Laughs) I'm not touching that. I'm not giving that away. If Waid wants to give a definitive answer, he should absolutely feel free to - I'm not touching it. Part of the reason that we're doing this is for people to wonder about that and to figure out what the reconciliation is - if they are, in fact, the same.

You see, the problem is that I know what books are coming out prior to the questions you're asking, so I feel like, "I don't want to do it (reveal the answers) - it's good stuff! I don't want to give it away." It's not a clone, let's put it that way, all right? I will answer that the Legion Supergirl is not a clone of Kara - No clones. No cyborgs.

Sunday, February 12, 2006

Still no officially official news yet. Perhaps they'll let us know this week at WonderCon. However, it's not a national-security level secret, as word has been leaking since last summer.

Shawn posted that the meet-and-greet party last week went very well, as did the first recording session on Friday.

It was interesting to hear the voices they cast for the other roles. I felt a bit subconscious at first. I expected everyone to record individually; instead we recorded together. In the end, it's a lot more practical to record that way. It allows the actors to play off one another to make the moments/beats sounds as real as possible. It also lends itself to finding or fine tuning key moments in the script.

What a relief it is to work with happy people that are relaxed and enjoy their work. The production staff acts like a team. On most sets you can tell who the top dogs are (producers/actors) and those who aren't. You normally see the stress on certain production staff members faces as they run about performing tasks for the higher up producers/actors to keep them happy. There wasn't any of that Friday. It was refreshing.

After recording was complete we, the actors, were given a short tour of the studio. They showed us some preliminary artwork for our show and a few other shows. I am new to all of this so I was and will be very interested in learning all I can about animation and the 'process' while we're recording the next few weeks. One thing I learned is it takes about six months for them to complete an episode after the actors have recorded.

Scroll to the bottom of Shawn's post to see the cake they served at the party. With a design like that, I have good feelings about the show....

With the six-month animation time, we may see the first episode of the show around September.

Waid said of Supergirl showing up in Supergirl and the Legion of Superheroes, that part of the team thinks of her as a weird myth like King Arthur, others thinks she's a comic book character, others think she's a lunatic.

When the Legion finally asks Supergirl where she came from, the answer shocked his editor, Waid said.

Speaking of Supergirl, asked about the cover Newsarama featured this week showing Kara ripping off a costume to reveal a Supergirl costume underneath, new series writer Rucka said it could be indicative of identity issues, or it could be "just a cheesecake attempt to sell books".

And:

Didio asked Rucka and Waid if they resolved issues involving Supergirl being in two places/times at once at dinner on Friday night, Waid said, "I don’t care what the waiter said, those tables were overturned when we got there."

Rucka said they discovered who is to blame for the whole two Supergirls dilemma and jokingly looked in DiDio’s direction, saying, "You should start running".

Fans expressed delight with the Legion letter columns from recent issues of that series, and one fan even expressed a desire for an all-letter column issue. Waid said he’d be up for it if the fan could get it approved. He urged fans to keep sending letters, because they’ll keep printing them.

To write LOSH, Waid explained he has character depictions drawn by Kitson he moves around “like chess pieces”, in order to write each issue.

Describing the process, Waid might realize, “Oh, we haven’t seen Star Boy use his powers in awhile”, and then Star Boy will use his powers.

He also mentioned he tends to gravitate towards characters from his childhood and to characters with a sense of humor. He’s enjoying writing Chameleon Boy in Legion in part for this reason, and he will be featured more prominently soon.

On that front, many questions were asked about characters who will appear in Legion. Wildfire will be appearing in issue #15, as well as the three characters on the cover, and a new character will appear in issue #18. There has been much talk of Shikari from the last incarnation of the Legion appearing. Kitson seems to be against Bouncing Boy at this time, although Waid loves him and Matter-Eater Lad.

In coming issues we’ll be getting into why Braniac 5 seems to have so much anger. The rest of the Legion doesn’t know he has the body of Dream Girl, but he has an amazing plan and the plotline will get to the core of his rage. This will be a big part of year two in the book, in issues #16-18 readers will be getting a sense of this.

Waid is less comfortable with the magic side of the Legion, even though Mordru is one of his two favorite villains (along with Composite Superman). When asked if he’ll be touching on some of those elements, he said he would have to speak to Kitson. Waid made it sound as though his avoidance of it has been almost subconscious, but Wacker pointed out the set-up of Princess Projectra as being an exception.

Waid commented his first time writing Legion did not go so well because they were too beholden to the old stories. One post-reboot thing he particularly disliked was that they used a silly villain with a retarded name (Starfinger) just because they felt like they had to because the old Legion fought him around then.

Wacker said he loves that just because Waid loves and know all the old stories, he does not hold them precious. He doesn’t worry about change as some older creators do.

According to new Supergirl writer Greg Rucka, Supergirl is Kara Zor-El, "but she’s not who you think she is."

The Legion of Superheroes may appear in 52, but it['d] be really be hard to do. Waid insisted, "if it were to happen, the meeting of the heroes of the 21st and 31st centuries would really, really have to be big."

When an audience member said they were confused by just how many Supergirls there were in the DCU currently, and coming up, Didio interjected, asking, "C’mon, how many are there, really?"

The reader pointed out that there appear to be two in the current Supergirl title, and possibly a third that will be showing up in Legion of Super-Heroes as part of the One Year Later storyline, to which Didio replied, "Oh, I guess you're right – there are a lot." Asked when it will all make sense, Rucka, the upcoming writer on Supergirl said, "I know exactly who she is, and so does Mark," adding that the two are planning to meet this weekend to work out the hows and whys of Supergirl appearing in both titles at the same time.

"Within my first six issues, we find out some truths about Kara, and that she's not realy who we think she is, but she is Kara Zor-el," Rucka said, and then, noting some unrest from the audience added, "She's not a horse, she's not a zombie, and she's not a robot."

"Holy crap, now I'm nervous," Waid added with a chuckle.

And this:

The remaining time of the panel was spent by audience members suggesting characters to be put into 52, given the writers' claims that they’re going to try to fit everyone in. The rundown (notes on the characters were taken by Rucka and Wacker, and replies, when given came from various panel members):

Legion of Super-Heroes – "We’re looking for a way to bring them to the modern day DCU, and we want it to be big," Waid said. "52 might be the place."

Legion of Super-Pets – "Nice try"

Mon-El – "Possibly," Waid said.

Prez – "He came up, but we determined he was an Elseworlds," Rucka said. Waid: "Maybe I can put him into the Legion, and his super power can be that he's President of the United States."

There's a new Legion-themed Collectible Card Game (CCG) coming out in the fall, part of the "Vs." universe.

First press release is from Upper Deck, with a Winter 2006 release date:

Also igniting the Vs. System in 2006 are power-packed booster and starter sets for the critically-acclaimed DC Comics TCG. This year’s releases include the Superman Starter Set (May), a two-deck pack featuring favorite characters from the Superman universe; the Infinite Crisis (May) booster set, which features some of the most heroic and darkest characters in the DC universe, new game mechanics, and feature heroes such as Captain Marvel and Dr. Fate to the Vs. System; the Legion of Super-Heroes (Winter) features the teen sensations that protect the United Planets from the perils of the future; and the popular DC Comics holiday collector sets (Fall) featuring new and exclusive cards for the DC Comics TCG.

I'm proud to announce the next eagerly awaited addition to the Vs. universe. The teen sensations from the future, the Legion of Super-Heroes, are from all over the galaxy. They've banded together to protect the United Planets from a multitude of galactic threats. The Legionnaires, led by their founders Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl, and Live Wire, work together with Superboy and Supergirl to fight against such evil foes as the Fatal Five, the Legion of Supervillains, and the eternal menace of Darkseid.

There are a few discussion threads on the new set at Vsrealms, including one here. Meanwhile, this thread lists a couple hundred possible cards (Legionnaires, villains, equipment, and unaffiliated characters). Aside from those listed above, it's apparently "known" that there will be a Flight Ring as an equipment card.

If they go by past sets, there will be 220 cards in the set: 110 common, 55 uncommon, and 55 rare. Be prepared to open your wallet for this one: using several different card series on the TCGPlayer.com site for comparison (using a JLA set as an example), the commons go for 25-50 cents each, uncommons about 50 cents to $1.50 each, and rare up to $20 (with most of these in the $4-$6 range) if you were to buy them individually. Yikes!

I'll admit to knowing nothing about how the game is played, so if someone cares to add a comment, go for it.

Friday, February 10, 2006

More catching up.... Typo Lad has been having a field day the last couple of weeks (or would that be a couple of field weeks?) with the Legion over at What WERE They Thinking?, in which panels are taken out of context and examined. Here's the latest batch:

Which is a good lead-in to something I've been meaning to post here... What do you have in your "normal" non-comics-related life (reading, writing, collecting, etc.) that you've added a Legion touch to? I wouldn't include putting artwork on your walls at home, but anything outside is fair game. Some examples:

On my home wireless network Sleepnet, my laptop is Computo and my desktop is LSH-HQ.

My Palm PDA flashes an Omnicom picture when it starts up and a Legion symbol when it shuts down.

You dressed up like a Legionnaire for Halloween.

You have various Legion designs as backgrounds for your checks.

You own a knitted scarf with Legionnaire Mission Monitor Board symbols.

Tuesday, February 07, 2006

A few interesting Legion/Infinite Crisis speculations I've found, plus one of my own at the end:

Newsarama's "Crisis Counseling" with Dan Didio (following issue 4) mentioned words to the effect that James Robinson might have something to say about the Starman legacy in the aftermath of Infinite Crisis. Ragnell the Foul wonders what's going to become of the whole Legionnaire/Star Boy/Starman thing - they've got Danny Blaine, the white Thom Kallor (MIA in the time stream following the battle with the Fatal Five right before the new reboot), the black man in the current Legion series, or a new one.

Flash fanatic Kelson Vibber notes that we were never told the names of Wally "Flash" West's kids before they disappeared in Infinite Crisis #4. Apparently there is speculation that the kids might be revealed as the Tornado Twins in the 30th century. He doesn't think that's too likely, as the Twins have been well-established as Barry Allen's kids, and Bart "Impulse/Kid Flash" Allen has been well-established as Barry's grandson. (Less established is what happened to Jenni "XS" Ognats, his granddaughter, who's currently hanging around in the time/space continuum with Starman legacy Thom "Star Boy" Kallor.) It's more likely that they turn out to be Barry and Iris, revealed as Wally's kids in the Kingdom and Kingdom Come series. I pretty much agree with him on all counts.

Jer-El78 wonders where Mon-el (or M'Onel) is these days. If you'll recall, he's been rebooted a few times too. First he was a Daxamite from Earth-1's universe, he got stuck in the Phantom Zone for 1000 years, and joined the Earth-1 Legion when he got out. After the John Byrne Superman reboot, there was no Superboy on the post-Crisis Earth so Mon-el was from the Pocket Universe. After the Legion reboot, he showed up in then-current Superboy continuity and ended up in the Phantom Zone (or thereabouts) for 1000 years, and joined the Legion as Lar Gand, aka "M'Onel". He was last seen lost in the time stream with Star Boy and XS. So back to Jer-El78's theory... we have seen neither hide nor hair of him in the new Legion book so far, and we've seen just about everyone else. We've already been told that the 31st Century we're reading about is the post-Infinite Crisis version.

Now this character may be nuts and killed people but he thinks he was doing the right thing which was helping Alexander Luther bring back Earth 2...what if (and its a big IF) that when the dust clears we see this Superboy make is way to the 31 Century gives himself a new Idenity say Mon-El and makes up for his sins and lives the rest of his life as the hero he always wanted to be.

(This last one via Ragnell again)Personally, I'm skeptical of this one. We'll probably just get a new Mon-el.

Now, for my own bit of speculation. We've been told recently that this Legion is already the post-Infinite Crisis Legion.

I think that the Legion we've been reading about in the current (v5) series is the Legion of the rebooted Earth-2, or whatever they're going to call the new Earth we saw at the end of Infinite Crisis #4.

Remember, there was never a pre-Crisis Earth-2 Legion. In fact, I'm positive I remember a scene in the original Crisis in which Ayla remarked to someone that there was no Earth-2 Legion. But in Infinite Crisis #4, we saw the creation of a new Earth, and the former Earth-2vians were teleported away to it. Thus, a rebooted Earth-2 (which I'll call Earth-2.1, making the mainstream post-IC DCU on Earth-1.1 I guess). The post-Zero Hour Legion was the future of the single DCU Earth (Earth-Sigma). Now we've got another Earth and a Legion more radically departed from anything we've seen before (Mordruverse excepted).

And remember how the reason we knew about the other Earths was from the comics that we saw the heroes with, like the ones featuring the Earth-2 Flash that Barry Allen had, and the comics featuring the Earth-1 heroes in that Legends of the DC Universe Crisis 4-1/2 Special from a few years back? Anyone remember maybe a recent backup Legion story in which they found old DC issues in the rubble after a fight, the covers of which were woven into the storyline? That wasn't subtle, that was telling us that they are not part of the mainstream DC universe we read about today. It's the future of Earth-2.1.

And if that's true, what does that say about the future of the mainstream post-Infinite Crisis Earth-1.1 (that got split from Earth 2.1) - who's there, the pre-Crisis Legion (with Superboy and Supergirl), the post-Crisis/pre-Zero Hour Legion (post Five Year Gap era that vanished in Zero Hour), or the post-Zero Hour Legion (Waid/Stern/Moy/Abnett/Lanning era, currently lost in the time/space continuum)?

Mark Waid is such an admitted geeky fanboy, this sounds like something that would appeal to him in that way. We'll see if I'm right in a few months.

The New York Times book section had a 2/7/06 article profiling Paul Levitz (free registration required), on the occasion of his return to writing a 6-issue JSA arc starting this week. The article notes that the last time he wrote the JSA regularly was in 1979. The Legion gets a mention in the profile:

Given the opportunity to edit his own titles, Mr. Levitz dropped out of N.Y.U. He also started to blossom as a writer. In 1976, Mr. Levitz landed "All-Star Comics," featuring the Justice Society, and he began his first run on the Legion of Super-Heroes, a team of 30th-century adventurers.

You've got about 30 days or so before the article gets put behind a paywall.

I'm interested in the subject matter here, as it occurs to me seeing the subject header just how much of what DC does through titles like JSA reflects the basic approach to the material the DC's President and Publisher pretty much embodied as a full-time comics writer two and more decades ago. That's not always the case with the seemingly endless series of these relatively unsophisticated DC-focused articles at NYT.

Monday, February 06, 2006

On Saturday, I reposted some information from the blog of a voice actor who is apparently going to be the voice of a character on the upcoming Legion of Super-Heroes show, mentioning some upcoming activities related to the show's first taping.

On Sunday the post is gone.

Meanwhile, also on Sunday, I posted that I had found an animator's website/blog in which he said he was:

Currently employed at Warner Bros. Animation as a Prop Designer for the Legion of Superheroes. Worked on Teen Titans, Jackie Chan Adventures...more info on IMDB.

After leaving him a message in his comments asking for more on the Legion series, I went back on Monday and it now says:

Worked on Teen Titans...more info on IMDB.

I can think of a couple of reasons for the secrecy: 1. someone is reading this that's connected to the show who doesn't want word leaking out before the official announcement sometime in the next few weeks (good luck putting that genie back in the bottle)2. The individuals realized that they might have said too much/too soon and took it down on their own.

Shawn and Norm, sorry if I got you guys into any sort of trouble. We'll talk after the official announcements.

A fallout issue with multiple artists, it lacks focus on a lot of levels. There's several good scenes, though, even if they don't really hang together. The cover is honest, at least, as Atom Girl's background and personality get fleshed out. Recommended.

Again, it's probably a cop-out, but I need to read this book from the beginning. There was a point when it all seemed familiar but radically new, and now it seems to have assumed that the reader is familiar with the radically-new aspects. It's not poorly done by any means, and I don't dislike the characters, but I get the feeling I've spent too little time with them.

Over at heykidzcomix, Funk Master Stupid TV Flash posts the last few panels of issue 14, which were hotly discussed in the comments section. Among those commenting:

I generally like Waid's writing, but this hyperdefensive shit turns me off even more than the boring plotline does.

It was just jarring--the Legion is fighting the guy who can counteract all their powers, and then all of a sudden it's "Fuck you, fanboy." Really weird, especially if you're not expecting to get meta-slapped.

I liked the emotional moment of it simply because I wasn't expecting it, and I liked seeing that there was a darkside to the Legion following -- I mean, it would follow that this would happen, right, because Cosmic Boy makes it so personal, so intimate, like every person in that square is a first stringer. I thought it was pointing out a flaw in the current leadership. But that's a personal thing, I know, liking or disliking, and the interpretation of it. I was just really shocked by how many people seemed to think this was a personal dig at them. Then again, I spend a lot of time thinking about this book, so maybe it was a personal dig at ME and I just don't care :)

the United Planets decides to fully fund the LSH as an independent arm of Earthgov. About bloody time, I say. And another "about bloody time" to the appearance of the first acknowledged gay character in this incarnation of the Legion: Colossal Boy's adorable brother.

As we all know with great power comes great responsibility and even greater press coverage. It appears that 1000 years in the future the pen is still stronger than the atomic blaster ray; the Legion are the media darlings of their millennium and this makes them far more dangerous than ever before.

While I was left wondering if the latest addition to the cast was indeed schitzo, I soon began having similar concerns about the writer of this series. As poor as the Invisible Kid / Atom Girl exchange was, the book is saved with a good old-fashioned punch-up with more emotional content the rest of the book put together... After only one year there’s a major shift in the status quo, one I am eagerly looking forward to.

Perfectly in keeping with the writing of this issue, the art is a bi-polar mixture of exemplary and appalling. I couldn’t help but notice that those parts of the story I enjoyed the least (and thought where poorly written) were drawn by Adam DeKraker... should Barry Kitson ever leave as the regular artist, Lashley is the first person I would choose to follow that pretty intimidating example.

This is the biggest problem with this issue – there is simply too much and as Waid cannot dedicate enough time to each issue as he otherwise might have done; one gets the feeling that Waid is writing the story that he has to as opposed to the one he wants to; like he’s writing this story to get me to next month’s book with a minimal amount of fuss.

Review: 3 out of 5 stars

Scans Daily has a scan of the finale to the issue and the letters pages.

Sometimes I really wonder where Waid is going with Legion. I mean, didn't he just have to reboot it because the old one wasn't "classic" enough for all the fanboys out there? But then he comes up with little subplots like this one where he essentially makes fun of his core fanbase. I do not pretend to understand, and hope only that somehow, somewhere, Lyle/Brainy works its way into canon again.

In reply, someone wrote:

He's not talking specifically about any sort of Legion fans. Or comics fans. This sort of thing happens in most fandoms - but more often in fandoms for real people.

Mark Waid doesn't, generally, have to worry about this sort of thing. But Jodie Foster does. David Letterman does. John Lennon and Selina did until it resulted in their deaths.

The biggest problem with this new animated Legion stuff going on is that my other Legion blogging has fallen behind. So, kicking off my "back issues" is a look at reviews of LSH v5 #13, the end of the first long storyline. In no particular order:

Don "Get-a-Life Boy" Sakers says it's got "Some awfully nice touches here and there", and hopes that the real reason Sun Boy left to stay with Terror Firma is that "he has a crush on the cute blond guy with the dark shades...."

It was well done. Lots of nice touches in the fights. Most Legionnaires got at least a little bit of the spotlight. It didn’t hit the heights the way you’d like the climax of a thirteen-issue story to do, and the backup story didn’t add anything. But it was good.

With 13 issues he has taken a corny concept from the 50’s reworked, repackaged and remarketed it and turned it into one of the best series currently on the shelf. It never ceases to amaze me that this book is consistently not in the top 25 top selling books each month as every issue has delivered original twists, fresh ideas, intrigue and more action than a season of Smallville and he’s done it without the usual delays that seem to have hampered everybody else.

The first twelve issues of Waid’s run have been typified by out standing characterisation and this has left the reader with a very real sense who the characters are. In this issue Waid begins to play with his characters as he takes them into new uncharted emotional areas. ...

Mark Waid has spent a year proving why he is one of the few true masters of the comic medium. He has the recipe for the perfect cocktail of drama, action and comedy with a healthy topping of realism. A recipe he dishes out both regularly and generously. He plays with human emotion as others would a harp. While his work has a seemingly young and spontaneous feel to it, one cannot help but appreciate how well thought out each issue and the complete arc have been. Waid spent a year telling a single story by telling one small story at a time, creating subplot after subplot, left them seemingly abandoned and then weqving them into a larger picture and then refining it into one of the best self-contained stories I’ve ever read. Nothing is left unresolved and yet there are a few things that are...

Sunday, February 05, 2006

Norm Ryang is the prop designer on the upcoming Legion series, according to his profile on "Norm's Mess":

Currently employed at Warner Bros. Animation as a Prop Designer for the Legion of Superheroes. Worked on Teen Titans, Jackie Chan Adventures...more info on IMDB.

Finally, even though "Far From Home" was well-recieved (by those who have seen it so far), it's worth pointing out a reminder that what we see isn't necessarily what we'll get. Recall this Silver Bullet Comics "All the Rage" from last summer, around the time of the San Diego Comic Con:

However, the truly BIG news was not mentioned at the panel. The Legion of Superheroes appearance on JLU is no coincidence, and I've been told by reliable sources that a Legion of Superheroes animated series is set to go into production immediately after the completion of JLU. And most of JLU's creative team will be moving over to the new LoSH series, with one major exception... Bruce Timm. The new LoSH series is being spearheaded by Sam Register, the Vice President of Cartoon Network. Rumor has it that Register feels Timm’s work is "tired and dated" and that the new LoSH series will be done in more of a Teen Titans style of animation rather than the classic Timm style.

There’s more... To further separate the two franchises, a major plot element from JLU is being ignored. In the new season, a JLU member will join the LoSH and stay in the future. But that character will not be appearing in the LoSH series. Instead, another DC "silver age" character will appear regularly. Additionally, there's talk that Register will not renew Timm's contract when it expires next year. Why? Well, from what I've heard Register is more concerned with creating his own legacy of shows... that he wants to be regarded in the same way as William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. The fact that most of you have no idea who he is should tell you how successful that's been.

Last summer, this was given a 7 out of 10 rating for believability and likelihood. I have no idea if this is still accurate today, but it does fit rumors I've heard elsewhere. We'll see very shortly, because....

On one final note, the Warners did tell me there is going to be a lot of announcements, in fact three sets of them, coming from them in the very near future. The first will be delivered during WonderCon this February 24-25. The second will be during the upfront sessions that will be held by Kids WB and CN [Cartoon Network] on March 1. The last set will be around the middle of the March.

At the upfronts, they'll probably hash out what will happen during the merger between the WB and UPN networks.

Saturday, February 04, 2006

The first cast meeting for the Legion series is this week. Apparently they are having a big meet-n-greet with the voice actors and the show bigwigs at the recording studio. Shawn (voice of Timber Wolf) has some practicing to do for his first recording session:

* I just finished reading the script for the episode in which my character is introduced on the Legion of Super Heroes. Why do I spend the first half of the episode growling and howling like a wild animal? From the script:

. Backlit by a FULL MOON, we see the outline of the BEAST. It lets loose a blood curdling [howl!]

Blood curdling howl?!!!!! Man, I don't know how to howl. I better go rent some movies with wolves and get to practicing their howls. Yikes.

Still no word from anywhere who these bigwigs are, though. As I mentioned earlier, supposedly informed speculation says Allan Heinberg ("New Avengers", "The O.C.") is the big cheese.

In the comments to a post on the Absorbascon (discussing "Far From Home" in general and the Emerald Empress in particular), there are reminders that, as Comics Continuum said back on January 2, "The Legion's appearance has nothing to do with the Legion show in development at Warner Bros. Animation." It has been suggested (and I'm trying to coroborate) that the animation style will be closer to that of the Teen Titans show, which was not tied to the DC Animated Universe like the Superman, Batman, and Justice League shows were/are. We'll see.

So how did you like the JLU episode? I thoroughly enjoyed it. I realize there's only 22 minutes in which you can do something, and part of that time has to be taken up by the Justice League getting to the 30th century, but overall the pace was good and the storyline well-crafted. Bravo to McDuffie and Dini!

Traffic to my nearly quadrupled after I posted the "Far From Home" summaries and screencaps the other day. Thanks, hope you all stick around.

Reviews are starting to trickle in by those who've downloaded the episode from somewhere.

Ain't It Cool News gives it five stars. Correspondent "Drunken Irishman", who according to Hercules "I’m guessing doesn’t know his Validus from his Matter-Eater Lad", has trouble with names but liked the show:

What's good?"You wanna shut up before you create a time paradox." The spaceships battling each other. "Just because he's seriously cute doesn't mean we should trust a Brianiac." "Maybe I was just trying to cop a feel." Green Arrow talking to Brainiac about Kara. Kara finally coming into her own as a superhero. Bouncing Boy bouncing. "Now this boy Kara likes so much, does he have a name?"

What's bad?Kara and Brainiac fall for each other far to fast. It just seemed completely unrealistic. I know it's a cartoon, but give us some credit.

I'm not sure I've ever mentioned it before, but I love the Legion. It's the most DC-ish of the DCU, what with its wacky Silver Age extended continuity, and the most Marvel-ish as well, with its one-power teenagers and their little high school dramas. Shouldn't everyone love the Legion?

Some commentary on the JLU episode leads to discussion of the Fatal Five, in particular the scariness of the Emerald Empress.

Thursday, February 02, 2006

Nicholle Tom as SupergirlNicholle was a recurring character on "Beverly Hills 90210" and was a regular in "The Nanny". She's been the voice of Supergirl since 1998.

Kin Shriner as Green ArrowKin was a regular on "General Hospital", "The Bold and the Beautiful", "Port Charles", "Young and the Restless", and is currently on "As the World Turns". He's been Green Arrow since 2004.

Phil LaMarr as Green LanternPhil as done loads of voiceover work in dozens of shows. He was a regular on "MAD TV", he's Black Vulcan on "Harvey Birdman", did "Futurama" and "Family Guy", and was Marvin "Oh man, I just shot Marvin in the face!" in "Pulp Fiction". He's been GL since 2001.

George Newbern as SupermanGeorge was on "Chicago Hope", "Friends", "Providence", "Reunion", and lots of other guest starring roles. He's been Superman since 2001.

Matt Czuchry as Brainiac 5Matt has been in a number of shows including "Gilmore Girls" and "Hack".

Googy Gress as Bouncing BoyGoogy (his real name, apparently) has guest starred in many shows and has had roles in a number of movies.

Joanne Whalley as Emerald EmpressJoanne has done a number of movie and TV roles including "Willow".

Tomas Arana as TharokTomas was in "Gladiator", "Tombstone", "Pearl Harbor", and "24", plus a number of guest-starring roles.

Supergirl tells Brainy and Green Arrow to get to the other ship and shut down the control devices while she holds off GL and the Legion.

Brainy tries to stop her - "You can't go! I lo-- I lied to you. History says that you never returned from this battle."

She and Green Arrow are incredulous, but Brainy says that he hoped it wouldn't come to this. She tells him that there is still a planet full of people who need her help, so the guys should do their job and she'll do hers. She kisses Brainy "in case I don't see you again". Then she leaves.

GA tells Brainy to work on a plan to get them onto the mother ship. Brainy pilots the ship through the laser fire and crashes into the side. He and Green Arrow get out, it gets harder from here.

On the planet, Kara is psyching herself up for the battle - it's just another training mission.

Here comes GL and the Legion! Down goes GL. Down go Saturn Girl and Ultra Boy. Down go Timber Wolf and Colossal Boy.

She throws the giant Colossal Boy into Bouncing Boy, Phantom Girl, and Blok, who crash into the ground. But then she gets zapped by Lightning Lad and falls from the sky.

Back aboard the Fatal Five's ship, Green Arrow and Brainy bust in and Green Arrow shoots one of his enhanced arrows which blows up - but no apparent harm.

The Eye tries to get them but Brainy's force field holds. Green Arrow shoots out a generator, which explodes, blowing the Empress away.

On the planet below, Supergirl is surrounded by Legionnaires. Chameleon Boy gets a fist to the jaw, Wildfire gets a knee to the jaw, Phantom Girl gets a left cross, Cosmic Boy gets a boot to the head. Wildfire flails at her, then she kicks his faceplate just before Blok nails her. Ultra Boy, Saturn Girl, even Blok can't stop her. But a big ship coming down at her takes her to the ground.

Up on the ship, Mano disintegrates one of Green Arrow's arrows and tries to attack him, but GA knocks him down with his bow, such that he hits the deck and burns a hole through which he falls. Mano's only line of dialog is "Aaaaaaaaaa!"

Outside, Cosmic Boy encloses Supergirl in a metal cocoon, but she burns her way out past the waiting Legionnaires. Chameleon Boy changes into a demonic form and tackles her.

While Green Arrow fights Tharok, Brainy is pinned down by a drooling Validus. Tharok doesn't think that Green Arrow can stop them with one of his new arrows, but he riccochets it all over the ship, off of Validus's head and into the control panel - nothing but net.

The panel blows up and a wave goes over the planet. Supergirl is being zapped by Wildfire and Lightning Lad, then Shadow Lass comes up and shoots at her. Kara's not too happy, but she punches her way up the energy column and dispatches all three of them - but then Ultra Boy gets her from behind and she's thrown against a building, slumping down. GL picks her up in some giant pincers and swings her around, through a restaurant and other buildings.

Just in the nick of time, the wave washes over GL and the Legion and they're no longer mind-controlled. But she's beat. GL apologizes, saying he couldn't stop what he was being commanded to do. The Legionnaires start getting un-controlled now.

Phantom Girl asks where they are, and Chuck recognizes Supergirl and GL nearby. In a deliberate homage to the cover of Crisis #7, the Legion hovers around GL, holding Kara.

Back on the ship, Green Arrow is fighting the Persuader, while Validus tosses a battered Brainy at the feet of the Emerald Empress. Who can rescue them?

Why, it's Supergirl, who punches a hole through the robotic Validus, with the rest of the Legion! Bouncing Boy takes out the Empress, then bounces until he knocks Persuader into Tharok.

GA helps Brainy over to the Legionnaires. Brainy and Kara smile at each other.

Later, at the new and improved LSH HQ, Phantom Girl tells Supergirl that they wanted to make her, Green Arrow, and GL honorary Legionnaires.

GL jokes that he's already got a ring, but Chuck says that they can't keep them anyway since the advanced tech could pollute the time stream.

Kara says she's keeping hers - she's not going back. She and Brainy make goo goo eyes at each other. She tells GL that history says that Supergirl never returned from this mission, because she decided to stay in the future. B

ack in the present, Steel and Superman are looking for whatever abducted the three Leaguers. Suddenly GL and Green Arrow appear, and tell Superman that Kara asked him to give Superman a box.

It's a hologram of Kara, asking Clark to say goodbye to his parents for her, and that she's staying because she found a place where she can make a difference, where she's more than just Superman's kid cousin. Also, she met this boy...

GL tells Superman that she did great, and Superman replies that he trusts her judgement. Now, he asks GL and Green Arrow, this boy she likes, does he have a name? GL and GA look at each other. End of episode.